Voices

Locking horns with house agents

By Lian Mo (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-16 08:25

I finally decided to rent a flat after 10 days' hunting, not because the place is ideal but because I was exhausted. I recently moved to Beijing and I realized renting a flat is much more difficult than I imagined.

When I studied in the UK, I found and rented seven flats without trouble. But it is different in Beijing. I worry about being cheated. My friends suggested I use property agencies even though they do not like them.

"Do choose a big, qualified agency," one of my friends emphasized. She had a terrible experience with a small agency last year. She rented a flat in the summer. When winter came, the agency asked her to pay the heating. "Isn't the cost of heating included in the rent?" She was surprised.

The agent let her see the contract, which in small line stated it is the tenant's duty to pay the heating. She felt she had been cheated deliberately.

"The whole city knows the rule: the landlord pays the heating and the property management fees," she said.

She refused to pay the heating and the agent blocked her keyhole with glue. I learned my first lesson from her story - read the contract carefully and do not trust an agency.

At first, I wanted to just rent a room and share a flat with someone. I saw a nice picture of a flat online and went to see it. The room was indeed all right, but the kitchen and hall were so dirty that I was convinced I could never make them clean.

"Don't be so picky. Pay a professional cleaner to do it before you move in. It will be fine," my mother said.

"How about my prospective roommate? How can I change her hygiene habits?" I replied.

Another friend told me a story about his colleague, who shared a big apartment with eight strangers. One day, he went to the toilet with his room door opened. He lost his laptop in those five minutes.

"It is not safe to share a flat with strangers," he said. I respected his opinion and changed target.

"A one bedroom flat, clean, near to my work and subway with a reasonable price." I told my agent.

He showed me several, but none of them satisfied all the conditions, and he enthusiastically promoted a two bedroom flat, which was more expensive than the price I told him was my maximum.

I called several other agents. Two of them were from the same company, but different stores. The interesting point is they used the same database, but showed me different flats. The comparison seemed to show that one of them was relatively honest and diligent. However, after hearing many bad stories from my friends, I still found it difficult to trust him. In the end, I took a flat from him but I was still suspicious.

Someone told me the origin of my troubles was money. If you can pay a good price, you don't have any worries. But I do not feel that's so. I do not want to pay to be made a fool. The worry is not only from price, but also a lack of trust.